KING EIDER (Somateria spectabilis)
The King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck, which breeds along northern hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay 4-7 eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.

King Eider winters in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern Canada and northern Norway. It also occurs annually off the northeastern USA, Scotland and Kamchatka. This species dives for benthic invertebrates like crustaceans, polychaete worms, and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. Wintering birds can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, with some flocks exceeding 100,000 birds.